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HCA Hot Cookery competition open for entries

The Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) has opened entries for its biennial Hot Cookery competition, the final of which will be held at Hotelympia next year.

Up to ten teams of two chefs from healthcare or NHS sites across the country will go forward to compete at ExCeL London on 8 March 2018. Teams will be required to devise, prepare and cook a two-course hospital meal (main and dessert) for four covers within one hour at a maximum cost of £2.10 per head.

The two courses will need to consist of a sustainable chicken-based main course and a fruit-based pudding containing less than 10g of added sugar per portion.

Meals will also need to have an emphasis on reduced saturated fats, sugars and salts, while being nutritionally sound and suitable for a generic NHS patient.

HCA regional branch heats will be held with organisers selecting worthy contenders to take part in the national final.

The event will take place in the Live Theatre, as part of Salon Culinaire, on the last day of Hotelympia - the UK’s largest foodservice and hospitality event, which will run from 5 to 8 March.

Richard Kirton and Ian Cannon from North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust won silver (best in class) at the HCA Hot Cookery competition at the last Hotelympia in 2016.

The HCA Hot Cookery competition is sponsored by Hobart Cooking Solutions and the Worshipful Company of Cooks.

Closing date for entries is 30 December 2017. For more information and to enter contact Phil Shelley, immediate past chair of the HCA at [email protected]